


Cancelled

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Eve, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 09:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8839714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: Arthur goes to great length to pick Merlin up at the airport only to find out that Merlin isn't there.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something that came to my mind and since things are pretty eventful in RL atm, this might be the most Christmas-y thing I'll manage to write this year. It's not beta'd, sorry.

Arthur sighed and didn’t even hide his disappointment. It was Christmas Eve and he had been looking forward to Merlin coming back after two months in Canada. It had something to do with Merlin’s study of magic and…oh, Arthur didn’t know and he didn’t really care. All he knew was that Merlin hadn’t come back. 

Knowing how crazy London was in the days before Christmas, Arthur had left work even earlier than he normally needed to, decided against letting one of the company’s drivers take him to the airport and instead had chosen the tube. Which had been his first major mistake. Not familiar with public transport, Arthur had pictured it like having a chauffeur – stepping on the train, a seat waiting for him and after a while, he could get out and would be there on time. Alright, he knew it wasn’t that easy, but he hadn’t thought that there would be severe delays on the Picadilly Line due to a lack of available trains – which the voice repeated tons of times while he was waiting on the platform and then again at each stop. He had to wait for more than twenty minutes before the first train even arrived. The platform was packed, it was hot and people were in his personal space which didn’t get him in a better mood.

Arthur let the first train go without him in hopes that the next one would be better but after 45 minutes and three trains had passed, he gave up and just let the throng of people push him onto a packed carriage. For the first five stations, he had to stand, desperately clinging to the nearest handle to keep his balance before he was lucky enough for the man next to him to get up and off the train – only to offer his seat to an elderly lady who was packed with which was obviously last-minute Christmas shopping prey. She threw him a thankful look and he smiled at her. 

It was hot on the train and he had no chance to take off his winter coat. After a while he felt sweat slowly making its way down his back and he hated the feeling. 

Finally, he made it to Heathrow, which was even more crowded. It felt like all of London tried to get away for the holidays. 

Arthur looked around and found a flower shop where he bought the last couple of red roses. He had thought of getting them before he left, but he was sure that they wouldn’t have survived the ride on the tube, so these had to do. Merlin wouldn’t mind that it wasn’t a huge bunch but he would love the gesture. 

Merlin. Arthur smiled. It had been a long two months without him and while he understood all the reasons why this trip was important for Merlin, that hadn’t kept him from missing his boyfriend every single second. He was so happy that it wouldn’t take long and he would hold Merlin in his arms again. 

He logged into the free WiFi and downloaded the airport’s app to check the flights and while he waited, he looked around. There was an unusually long line at the check-ins and passengers arguing, there were lots of frustrated faces and hanging shoulders. What was going on? 

Arthur made his way to the arrivals and checked the app again. Damn, Merlin’s flight was marked as ‘delayed’. He knew that Merlin was supposed to come in via Paris, some weird thing about saving money for the college he was working at and they just didn’t let him pay for a direct flight which was an issue with insurance, Arthur had no idea. He made a face but Paris was probably just as packed as London and it had been an unusually foggy day. 

Checking again and again, the ‘delayed’ didn’t even give him an estimate of when the plane would land, so Arthur wandered along the shops, got himself a cappuccino and later a sandwich. He had planned to take Merlin out for dinner, but it was late already and he knew that Merlin would be tired and probably not in the mood to go out after the exhausting trip. 

Another hour passed and Arthur cursed himself for not bringing his charging cable as his mobile slowly ran out of battery. He sent a last whatsapp out to Merlin before it finally gave up. Checking the big time tables again, most of the flights showed ‘delayed’ but there was a change on Merlin’s flight. It had switched from ‘delayed’ to ‘cancelled’. Groaning, Arthur looked around. If the flight from Paris was cancelled, Merlin was stuck there and he needed to let him know that he knew. Then again, Merlin didn’t even know that he was waiting at the airport, it was meant to be a surprise. Still, even if he weren’t here, he would check the flight status online, so he would know that Merlin was stranded in Paris. 

Looking around, he saw a young woman who seemed to have the same mobile than he did and asked her for a few moments of charging, even offering to pay for it. She laughed, as charging was free at the airport and let him use her cable. When he finally had enough battery to make it home, Arthur gave her the flowers he was still holding. They wouldn’t make it back to their place anyway and it would look kind of sad and stupid if he carried them back to half of London. 

Deciding against taking a taxi – he checked the line and it was so long that he would walk into London a lot faster than finally be at the front of the line – and went back to the Underground station. Which was, as he expected, just as packed as on the way here. Merlin hadn’t answered his message yet, he was probably busy finding accommodation or ran out of battery, too, so Arthur took the long way back into the heart of London on the tube again, having to stand all the way, a big suitcase pushing painfully into the back of his leg while people stood as snug as sardines in a can. 

After a taxi ride from the tube station to his house, Arthur finally entered and wasn’t in the best of moods. What a waste of time! He was tired and annoyed and what was even worse: Without Merlin. 

Just as he really started worrying as there was still no message on his mobile and the answering machine didn’t signal that there were missed calls, Arthur tripped over something in the half-dark.

“What the heck?” He reached for the nearest light-switch and stared at the huge bag and backpack that were lying carelessly behind the couch, just in the way enough to trip over. 

Arthur blinked. These weren’t his things, he hadn’t left them here, so this could only mean one thing! “Merlin!”

Running up the stairs, Arthur shouted again. “Merlin!”

Merlin came out of the bathroom, towelling his hair and his face split in a beaming smile. “Arthur! Where have you been? I came home and you weren’t here. I called the office and they said you’d left hours ago and I couldn’t reach your mobile and…”

Arthur didn’t care, he wrapped his arms around Merlin and kissed him over and over again, small chuckles escaping him whenever their lips weren’t touching. “You’re back!” He finally whispered. 

“I am and it’s good to be home. Where were you?”

“At the airport.”

Merlin looked at him. “But they said that you sent your driver home.”

“I took the tube.”

Laughing, Merlin shook his head. “Arthur Pendragon took the tube. Yeah, right, that’s a believable story, uh huh.”

“No, really, I took the tube.”

Merlin threw him a look. “Which line?”

“This is a Picadilly Line train to Heathrow, terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5.” Arthur repeated the line he had heard so often. 

“You didn’t!”

“I did.” Arthur nodded. “Your flight showed as ‘delayed’ first and after about two hours it said ‘cancelled’, so I sent you a message and came back here. What happened? Why are you here already?”

That came out a lot more accusing than Arthur had meant it and Merlin grinned. “My flight into Paris was actually early and as soon as we landed, they told us that the connecting flight was cancelled and I managed to catch one of the last seats on the Euro Star.”

“You could have stayed in Paris for the night and try again tomorrow.” The moment he said it, Arthur shook his head. 

Merlin shook his head, too. “To be so near yet so far from you? Without a guarantee to catch a flight tomorrow? No way!”

Arthur leaned in for another kiss. “You must be tired.”

Nodding, Merlin closed his eyes for a moment. “But happy to be home with you.”

Arthur just pulled Merlin tighter.


End file.
